"She's an amazing athlete. She's very pretty to watch in the ballroom," Ballas told People about the Olympic gold medalist figure skater in a Sunday report. "Sabrina and I speak every day. We have Skype on our computers -- we both have Macs. We video conference and it's great."

As Ballas has been preparing to compete with Yamaguchi for Dancing with the Stars sixth season, Bryan has been in India for more than a month filming The Cheetah Girls: One World, her third Disney TV-movie. However Ballas said Bryan will soon wrap filming and be back to cheer on her beau and his new dance partner.

"Sabrina is nothing but supportive. Every time we talk she's like, 'How's it going with Kristi?' She's so excited," Ballas told People.

In addition to having to compete without the presence on his No. 1 fan, Ballas is also overcoming an injury.

Ballas and Bryan returned to the ballroom for last fall's live fifth-season finale broadcast to perform a routine, however Ballas was in visible pain during parts of it -- grabbing at his shoulder -- and was subsequently taken to the hospital.

"I tore the muscle that holds the shoulder in place," he told People. "The doctors reset it and I had surgery two days later."